Nine of them went silent.
Colin McCaim had been cleared to go home today, and he was packed and ready. Then, out of nowhere, his dad had been told to sit back down. The nurse needed to check a few things first. Rhys had argued they’d already signed the paperwork. That the doctor had discharged him.
Tomorrow was Thanksgiving. And every damn one of them had more to be thankful for than ever.
Please don’t let something be wrong.
Ian caught Màiri’s eyes. She looked as worried as he felt. Her immediate bond with his father hadn’t come as a surprise to Ian. In the two weeks they’d been back, time nearly standing still since they’d been gone, Màiri had spent as much time with his father as he had. He knew she missed her father like crazy, and it was a balm to the soul to be with her father-in-law.
His mother took his hand and squeezed it. “It’s just standard procedure.”
He looked at her. After two weeks, she still didn’t seem real.
Shona MacKinnish. Shona McCaim. Ellen MacKinnish. So many identities, but only one of them mattered to Ian.
“Mom,” he whispered, “I love you.”
He’d never take those words for granted again. Nor would he take for granted the sight of the two most important women in his life standing side by side. Màiri had already come to love this city as he did. She was doing much better acclimating than he had to her time. Ian could crawl under his father’s hospital bed in shame thinking about the day he’d told his wife she was free to go. The salted meat must have gotten to him. His stomach still roiled at the thought of the things they’d eaten.
As the nurse worked, he looked at his brothers.
They worried about more than spoiled meat. Each of them had endured things that would take a lifetime to fully heal. But they were on their way. Thankfully, they had someone who’d been through their hell, and worse: their mother.
“I forgot to ask,” he whispered to his mother again. “Did you get in touch with that professor?”
“He got back to me this morning. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Ian tried to study his mother’s face, but she wasn’t giving much away. If her contact at the University of Edinburgh had information on Clan MacKinnish that couldn’t be found in the history books at home or on the internet, Ian would have to wait to find out about it later.
So far it seemed like their escapades in the past turned out okay. No altered history, except for a few bad guys dying earlier than they would have. Màiri indeed had a brother who played a key role in the war. The thought of her father and Alana being new parents together had taken the sting out of her leaving. Honestly, it was hard to glean as much as they’d hoped given the relative lack of documentation from that era. They’d probably never be finished digging for information, however obscure. Each of them felt connected to the past in a way they’d never thought possible. Only his father hadn’t been back to medieval Scotland. Ironic since he was the one to devote five years of his life to that particular cause.
“He’s all set.”
The nurse looked around the room.
“We don’t usually get so many family members for a discharge.” She smiled at their father, who, other than being a few pounds lighter, looked no worse for wear. Thanks to Mom. Two days of listening to her stories about the past, and their sons’ escapades there, had woken their dad up. He said he couldn’t remember Mom talking to him. Or anything other than a few hallucinations that sounded crazier than theyour mom is a time travelervariety. Once he was finally lucid enough to understand what was happening, Dad had to be restrained from getting out of the bed. He’d wanted to take his wife in his arms for the first time in five years.
Three weeks later, he looked ready to helm McCaim Shipping again. But he wouldn’t be doing so. Happy to be retired and let his three sons run the business, Dad had said his and Mom’s first order of business would be a vacation. He and Mom on a beach somewhere. They both deserved it.
“That’s too bad,” Reik said. “Nothing more important than family.”
Ian was still getting used to the new Reik.
How long has it been since I thanked Deirdre? Probably time to do it again.
Ian smiled at Reik’s wife and then leaned toward Màiri as Mom made her way to Dad’s bedside. He had, of course, tried to ditch the wheelchair, but the nurse was having none of it.
“What did you guys think of the space?” he asked. In the excitement of Dad being released this afternoon, he’d completely forgotten about Màiri’s appointment. She, Marian, Maggie, and Deidre had visited yet another building, the fifth in the past week.
“We liked it. Might be the one.”
“Get out!”
“I don’t suppose you mean that . . . how do you say it?”
“Literally?”
“Aye. I mean yes. Literally.”
